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Thames Clippers
Thames Clippers is a water-bus service operating in London on the River Thames. The company offers commuter services between eastern and central London, as well as tourist services under licence from London River Services. At present they transport around 7,500 passengers daily. Company Sean Collins co-founded Thames Clippers in 1999 with partner Alan Woods. During his career Sean recognised the opportunity to build a consistent high-speed commuter and passenger river service. Thames Clippers was then taken over in September 2006 by the American Anschutz Entertainment Group, who promised substantial investment into the company to upgrade the services and to provide a more frequent "hop-on-hop-off" between Central London and The O2 (formerly the Millennium Dome), also owned by the Anschutz Entertainment Group. In 2007 the company purchased six spacious new catamarans to be used on the Thames Clippers commuter service in order to carry a large number of passengers in a comfortable environment. Tickets Thames Clippers operate under licence from Transport for London. The river boat service is now better integrated into the tube and bus ticketing network. From November 2009, the Thames Clipper services started to accept Oyster Pre-Pay on all of its services, which also provides discounts on the full fares. Passengers holding a valid Travelcard pay a reduced fare (2/3 of the ticketed price) on all routes. A River Roamer ticket, valid for one day, is available from Thames Clipper which allows the holder to hop on and hop off along the banks of the Thames between Millbank Millennium Pier and Canary Wharf Pier (including the Canary Wharf - Rotherhithe Ferry). The cost is £12.00 for an adult and £25.00 for a family. It's £5.30 for an adult single trip (or £4.80 if payment is made with an oyster card). There is a one third discount for holders of travelcards. Special river service season tickets, valid for either 3 months or 1 year, are also available. Commuter services 'Main commuter service' Commuter service is between Embankment Pier (on the north side of the river by Embankment tube station and Charing Cross tube and railway stations) and the Woolwich Arsenal Pier (on the south side of the river in Woolwich. The service runs every 20 minutes during the day, and every 30 minutes in the very early morning and evenings. Stops include from west to east: *Embankment Pier, near Embankment tube station *London Eye Pier, near Waterloo tube station *Blackfriars Millennium Pier (weekdays only) for St Paul's Cathedral and Blackfriars station *Bankside Pier (off-peak only) for the Globe Theatre and Tate Modern art gallery *London Bridge City Pier, for London Bridge station, HMS Belfast and the London Dungeon *Tower Millennium Pier, for St Katharine Docks and the Tower of London *Canary Wharf Pier, for the Canary Wharf financial district *'Greenland Dock Pier', for Greenland Dock *Masthouse Terrace Pier *Greenwich Pier, for Greenwich, the Cutty Sark and the National Maritime Museum *North Greenwich Pier (QEII Pier) *Woolwich Arsenal Pier (Direct service mornings only, shuttle to/from QEII Pier at other times) 'Hilton / Canary Wharf ferry' Thames Clippers operates the direct cross river Canary Wharf - Rotherhithe Ferry, between Canary Wharf Pier and the Hilton Docklands Nelson Dock Pier at the Hilton Hotel in Rotherhithe. The service uses smaller boats than the commuter service but runs at a higher frequency of roughly every 10 minutes. The ferry can be used both by guests of the hotel as well as by passengers not staying at the hotel. 'London Bridge / Canary Wharf Shuttle' Thames Clippers operates a shuttle service between London Bridge City Pier and Canary Wharf Pier. This service operates only on peak AM and peak PM Commuter Hours (Monday-Friday). Offering an additional 10 minute service which coincides with the main commuter service between these piers. Visitor/tourist services 'Tate Boat Service' The Tate Boat Service serves visitors travelling between the Tate Modern museum on the South Bank and the older Tate Britain in Millbank across the river. 'The O2 Express' The O2 Express is an express service serving London Eye, London Bridge Pier and QEII Pier for The O2. The service also provides private charters. Vessels Thames Clippers operates 13 high speed catamarans. *''Hurricane Clipper'' - 220 seats. Built in 2001. *''Cyclone'', Monsoon, Tornado, and Typhoon Clippers - 220 seats. Built in 2007. *''Aurora'' and Meteor Clippers - 220 seats. Purchased in 2008. *''Sun'' and Moon Clippers - 138 seats. Built in 2001. *''Sky'', Star, and Storm Clippers - 62 seats. Built in 1990 & 1991. *''Twinstar'' - 125 seats. Built in 1976. Accidents In February 2004, a woman was killed after she was hit, while waiting for a boat, by a mooring bollard which had come loose from the Star Clipper at St. Katharine Pier. In October 4th, 2011 at 7 pm another accident occurred when the Moon Clipper hit the Tower Millennium Pier when it was carrying about 50 people. Onboard Service Thames Clipper vessels have on-board cafes and bars operated by Costa Coffee. Wireless internet Since May 2006 WiFi has been available on-board, the service is currently run by 'WiFi Hotzone' The future A Policy Exchange report advocates significant expansion in river services on the Thames. The aim of the report is to lead to a "river tube line" being created which would lead to easing of current congestion on London's transport systems, and better quality of travel, at a significantly cheaper price than other options. Opponents note that the river capacity, especially at low tide could mean a reduction of tourist boats (especially at peak commuter times), and turn the Thames into urban highway which would be detrimental to London. To be feasible, the report calls for better management of river traffic, improved interchange with other public transport modes and expansion of key piers. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson is responsible for the River Concordat group, which is made-up of over forty different organisations including Thames Clippers. His publication, By the River, sets out the strategic vision for improving river transport on the Thames. External links *Official website *Transport for London River Service information References # Christopher Hope, Industry Editor (2006-09-21). "Dome chief joins Thames taxi race" . Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-03-29. #http://www.wharf.co.uk/2009/04/thames-clippers-to-accept-oyst.html # Thames Clippers. "Thames Clippers fares". Retrieved 2008-04-01. #Clippers - Our Fleet # "Woman 'killed by mooring bollard'". BBC News. 2005-02-18. Retrieved 2008-03-29. # "Thames riverboat crashes into Tower Millennium Pier". BBC News. 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2011-10-05.